


Stay (R.L)

by obsessedwithrandomthings



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Domestic Fluff, Falling In Love, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-01
Updated: 2020-11-01
Packaged: 2021-03-08 23:21:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,537
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27334858
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/obsessedwithrandomthings/pseuds/obsessedwithrandomthings
Relationships: Remus Lupin & Reader, Remus Lupin/Reader
Kudos: 30





	Stay (R.L)

Remus and you had a relationship that no one really understood, not even the two of you.

You met him on the train in your first year as you sat with Sirius and him. While Sirius told you that you had pretty eyes, Remus had his face buried in a book, refusing to interact beyond a few nods and mumbles; it didn’t take you long to figure out that he hated being disturbed when he was reading. After that, you got sorted in Slytherin and you figured that was it for your friendship with him since he was sorted into Gryffindor but it wasn’t.

Not for long at least. 

The first four years at Hogwarts, Remus and you had very little interaction. Sirius and James would often talk to you in classes, and Remus would send you a shy wave or a quick ‘hello’ when he passed you in the hallways but nothing more than that. 

In your fourth year, when you injured yourself while playing quidditch, Remus sent you some pumpkin soup through Sirius because, for reason, he just couldn’t bring it to you directly; maybe because you were a Slytherin or maybe he just didn’t like being around you. Either way, it stung. As he grew older, he seemed to become more and more attractive. You’d often notice girls asking him to help them with potions, even though they clearly were only doing it to get his attention.

In your fifth year, things finally changed a little: Remus would come to sit next to you in the library, and ask you about your day; you’d often give him a confused look and he would chuckle, the sound making your heart flutter. You noticed him more because he was around more. Some days he would look so tired, sometimes have new scars that only made him more beautiful, if that was possible. 

“Are you okay, Lupin?” you’d ask him every time you saw him in that state, voice soft and eyes full of concern. It made your heart hurt and you just hoped he was okay. You wanted to embrace him, and just hold him but you kept telling yourself you weren’t that kind of friends yet and maybe he wouldn’t appreciate it.

“Never been better, Y/L/N.” He’d give you a cheeky wink and get back to doing whatever he was doing, which was usually reading, and well aware that he didn’t like being disturbed when reading, you never pressed any further. 

In your sixth year, you were really struggling: on one hand, you had quidditch and Slytherin really needed a win, and on the other, you were far behind on your studies. 

That’s when Remus offered to help. You both would sneak out at night, find a quiet place, and would use the light from your wands to study. He stayed up late just to help you finish your work and study. He would never complain, even when he was looking exhausted because he was happy to spend time with you. You always noticed the nights he was gone, and how beaten up and tired he would look the next day. 

“Just tell me what’s wrong, Lupin! Where do you go? Why are you gone on certain nights, and the next day you’re all bruised?” you raised your voice a little. You were angry, but mainly you were scared for him. 

“It’s none of your business Y/N! Do you not understand?! This has nothing to do with you!” he yelled back and you could see the anger in his eyes. And you backed off, refusing to speak to him for the rest of the year. Every interaction, however small, stopped. And his absence only made you realize that you were in love with Remus Lupin.

When your seventh and final year started, it went by faster than you wanted it to. Remus and you didn’t talk much, but it was better than before. That was the year that you learnt about his secret, why he was absent on those nights, why he looked beaten up the next day.

You should have known, the signs were all there for you but somehow, you ignored them all. If only you had put the pieces together sooner, you could have helped him through it, maybe held him after a full moon, stayed in bed with him the next morning, and looking after him but you didn’t, you never had the chance. You weren’t his and he wasn’t yours.

During your last few days at Hogwarts, you approached him, deciding to throw caution to the wind “I wish you had told me sooner, you know? I realize it wasn’t my business, but…” You pause with a sigh, smiling shyly at him “I don’t even know where I’m going with this but take care Remus, and I’m only a letter away, ok?” and before he could respond, you walked away. You honestly thought that was the last of him you’d see or hear but you were wrong. After you graduated, you wrote each other letters almost daily.

You were finally reunited at James and Lily’s wedding, where you danced together, drinking your worries away as you talked and laughed. It was the night you shared your first kiss. It was the day that you realized there was no getting over Remus Lupin. You were still in love with him. 

“I don’t want this night to end,” he whispered as he held you close, watching the few remaining couples sway gently on the dance floor. 

Everything had just faded away. All you could focus on was Remus, as your foreheads were pressed against one another’s “It doesn’t have to end. stay the night with me?” you asked, hoping he would say yes, but knowing deep down that he wouldn’t.

“I can’t. I am not want you want Y/N, not really.” He kissed you sweetly, rubbing a finger on your cheek, just below your eye “You deserve better, someone who isn’t an animal. Literally,” he tried to soften the blow with a sad chuckle but you had tears forming in your eyes as you stepped away from him.

“Never tell me what I want or what I deserve. Ever.” You walked away, angry and hurt that he would treat both himself and you that way. As you left the wedding, you were sure you’d never see him again.

The next few years were pure torture as you tried to move on, get your mind off the beautiful man you had loved for half your life but you couldn’t. You even went on a a few dates but nothing worked: you knew no one would ever compare to him. You picked up your quill plenty of times, trying to express how much you cared about him, how you didn’t care that he was a werewolf but you never could. Your heart couldn’t take another rejection. 

When the news about James and Lily’s murders broke, you were heartbroken, and your first thought went to Remus: if you were this distraught, how would he be coping?

You put everything aside, your feelings and heartbreak, to visit him. You knocked on his door, took a deep breath in, and a few seconds later, he finally opened the door. Would he shut the door? Would he ask you to leave? 

Before you could think any further, he hugged you, bringing you close to him as he held you close. As if he was scared he was going to lose you too.

“They’re gone Y/N. They just had harry, and now they’re gone.” He broke down in your arms, as he cried for hours in the entranceway of his small apartment.

You stayed up the whole night with him, cuddling him, stroking his hair, whispering sweet nothings in his ear. 

As the sun came up, you both were still cuddled up on his couch, his hair messy and eyes red from crying but you still thought you had never seen someone as breathtakingly beautiful as he was in your eyes.

“Can I make you breakfast?” you asked him sweetly, hands still running soothingly through his hair. You still feared he would reject you but you knew that you wanted to be there for him. This time, you wouldn’t let him decide what was best for you without putting up a fight. You deserved to be happy and you wanted to be happy with him.

Remus’ eyes filled with new tears as he kissed your forehead, lips lingering on your skin a few moments “Will you please stay?” His voice was rough from crying, but he carried on “There was always so much I wanted to say to you when we first met on the train. Or when you hurt yourself playing quidditch, or when you spoke to me during our last year, or at the wedding… I didn’t, and even now, I don’t know where to start or bring myself to actually say the words but please, will you stay?” 

Tears rolled down your cheeks as you nodded, quickly kissing him as he pulled you closer, and this time you knew he wouldn’t let go. You were finally with the man you loved.


End file.
